White men with college degrees were once avid supporters of GOP candidates. Now, they’re a swing group, available to either party

For years, the Republican Party could count on strong support from one big bloc of the electorate: white men with college degrees. Now, this once-reliable group is no longer a pillar of the GOP, leaving Republican candidates in many races with new challenges in building a winning coalition.

Polling throughout the year has shown that white, college-educated men are now essentially a swing group, available to either party and tilting, in fact, slightly toward Democratic candidates.